Crossroads
by Lexyqu
Summary: The Fix-it AU to rule all fix-it AUs...or something like that. I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant and I'm painfully aware of this fact. From book 5 onward.
1. Chapter 1

Valkyrie is Darquesse.

Skulduggery had uttered those 3 words earlier, after Val had been taken.

At the time they hadn't been in a position to discuss the statement at length. And now, as Tanith reconsidered those 3 simple words, they continued to make exactly zero sense.

Valkyrie is Darquesse.

It couldn't be true. Because Darquesse was, well… evil. The Big Baddie. Exactly the type of psycho that Skulduggery and Valkyrie fought _against_. It just didn't make sense.

OK, so Val could be a little hot-headed, and maybe she was a bit too quick to use violence to solve her problems, but that didn't change the fact that she was a good kid. She wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't have it coming and even then Tanith couldn't imagine her actually killing anyone.

Except she kind of had. Tanith had seen it. The evidence was right there, not a hundred meters away. Bodies, or whatever was left of them, strewn about the valley like bloody ragdolls.

The plan had worked. It was a miracle, really.

There had been a tense moment, when the last Remnant clung to that assassin but then it too got sucked into the Receptacle.

It powered down. Skulduggery looked at Valkyrie and then turned to Tanith.

"Look after her," he said, and Tanith nodded. Valkyrie didn't respond, half slumped on the cold earth. A hazy, lost look in her eyes.

She stayed quiet as Tanith helped her to the small brook. Let her clean the blood off her hands and face with the frigid water without so much as a peep.

The silence was heavy and unnerving but Tanith had no clue how she could break it. Valkyrie was no help either and continued to stare at drops of red being washed downstream. Her shoulders were hunched, making her already small form even smaller.

Still, horror and confusion aside, this was still Valkyrie. And Tanith was not about to let her deal with this alone.

"Val."

Valkyrie's shoulders tensed.

"Val, look at me."

She did, and the guarded look in those familiar dark eyes made something in Tanith chest constrict painfully.

"Oh, Val."

Tanith had her arms around her friend in an instant.

It took a few seconds but eventually she lost that rigidness. Valkyrie's arms rose and she returned the hug, hands gripping the back of Tanith's top.

xXx

They joined the others. Skulduggery momentarily paused in his efforts to shake a particularly unconscious sorcerer awake and looked their way. Valkyrie managed a smile. A tiny one, barely more than slight lift of the corners of her mouth but it seemed to suffice.

Skulduggery nodded once. Then proceeded to slap the mage in the face.

"Valkyrie!"

She found herself wrapped in another hug. Fletcher pulled back to look at her with anxious eyes. Dark red bruises ran along his neck and she felt a stab of guilt. It lasted a second, then faded.

Valkyrie blinked.

She hadn't noticed it before but he had other injuries. His shirt/jacket was torn, blood staining the edges. His cheek was swollen, like he'd gotten punched.

"Yeah," he said, peering down at himself. "Don't know what happened. Last thing I remember is getting ready to teleport and then I woke up here."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he lied.

"Oh," she said. "Ok. I just thought you might want a leaf but-"

"I take it back. It hurts everywhere. I think my wrist might be broken." She rolled her eyes but handed it over. Fletcher popped it into his mouth. His face cleared.

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "That's the good stuff. What about you?" he asked, growing sombre, "Your face…"

"It's nothing. Tanith already took a look." She nodded at her friend. Tanith was talking to Ghastly. He was holding her hand.

Fletcher frowned, followed her gaze, "Are they, like, a thing now?"

"Yup."

xXx

The Bentley drove as smoothly as ever and they soon left the snowy peaks of MacGillycuddy's Reeks far behind them. Fletcher had volunteered to ferry people back and forth, and Ghastly was driving Tanith back to the Hibernian to get her bike. China, along with her assistant, had taken the teleportation route. Her library had gone unattended for too long.

That left her and Skulduggery. And Gordon, but her uncle's echo stone lay dormant in her lap for now.

Sanguine had, to their surprise snuck away at some point, slipping into the earth. Skulduggery didn't think he'd get far. Not with his injuries. She was inclined to believe him. These past few hours had taken a toll on them all.

"Do you think we should have stayed?"

"No. Corrival and Ravel can handle it. It'll give them a taste what leading the Sanctuary will be like. Never a dull moment."

"You're happy someone else has to do the work."

"A bit."

"Me too. Tesseract's in custody. That's good."

"It is," he agreed. "Let's see for how long."

Valkyrie looked at him. "You think he'll get out?"

"Not alive, no."

"He, the remnant I mean, it told me something before… you know. He said he had a vision of me, when he was possessing Finbar. I think that's how they found out about me."

Skulduggery was quiet for a moment.

"I see," he said. "We should go pay Finbar a visit, then. See how he's doing. And after that we'll drop by the Temple as well."

"Why?"

"Anton said they never delivered their Remnant."

"Oh."

Skulduggery turned on the radio. A newscaster was reporting on the attacks. The relief in his voice was palpable as he talked about the cure Kenspeckle had concocted. She missed him.

Valkyrie listened to him prattle on and she watched the clouds trail across the blue expanse.

She'd called the reflection. Her family was safe and well. For now.

She thought of her parents, of her little sister who hadn't even gotten her first taste of the world. They could have died.

"We got lucky," she said, forcing herself to abandon that train of thought. Today had given her glimpse of what she could become. And she never wanted to experience it again.

"We did."

xXx

The whisky burned as it slid down his throat. It was a good sort of burn, though, and it was followed by a numbness which did wonders for the pain in his gut.

Sanguine poured himself another glass. It was good whisky, old and rich. The bartender had sung its praises not 10 minutes ago. Now his throat was sliced up nice and clean.

Sanguine took a swig.

So, Valkyrie Cain was Darquesse. Future destroyer of the world and everyone on it. Who'd have thought.

He grinned.

Now what to do with that juicy bit of gossip.

* * *

FINALLY  
I have been working on this goddamn AU for months. It's going to span the final chapters of book 5 and then onward to book 9. Loads will happen in between.

Be warned, it's not even remotely done but I wanted to share some of what I had so far for 2 reasons.

1) There isn't nearly enough SP content out there and that's just sad considering we have over 10 books so come on people, write things, post them. Now is your time to shine.

2) I'm kinda hoping posting this will force me to write more (frequently) since I'll be thinking about the plot more and working on the dialogue in my head.

So yeah, I have loads of plans. Ghanith lovers rejoice. Ghastly deserves all the love and I intend to have him and our favourite swordswoman live a long and healthy life together. As for Valduggery, I am a fan (don't yell at me) but I haven't quite worked out how to get there plotwise. Fletcher is wonderful but he and Val just don't work imo. That boy needs to get some self respect and not settle for scraps of attention.

I'm not going to promise you regular updates because I know myself and it would be a big fat lie. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoyed this little piece and I look forward to hearing your input.

Bye (^ ^)/


	2. Chapter 2

Oh my god I am so sorry ;n;

I never meant for this to take a whole month but stuff kind of happened and so here we are. On another note, I figured this was pretty obvious but this story contains spoilers, so, so many spoilers. Read at your own discretion.

Enjoy~

* * *

 **Thud**

"Do it again."

 **Thunk**

"Harder!"

 **Thump**

"Put your back into it, you idiot!"

Thrasher picked himself up off the floor. "Master," he said cautiously, casting anxious eyes on his companion. "I don't think this is going to work."

It wasn't. The door blocking the way out was a sturdy thing, impervious to their - his, really - every assault.

Thrasher hesitated, licking his lips. "Maybe, uhm, if you helped?" His mouth snapped shut and he withered under Scapegrace's glare.

"Help?" he hissed. "You want me to _help_?!"

The Zombie King waved his rotting arm, the one held in his other, equally rotting hand. "Do you want me to lose another arm? Or maybe a leg this time? Is that what you want, Thrasher? Is it?"

Thrasher shook his head violently. "No, Master. I'm sorry, Master."

"That's what I thought," Scapegrace sneered. He pointed at the door. "Now stop wasting time blathering and break that door down."

Thrasher shuffled on his feet, looking down at the floor.

 _"Well?"_

Thrasher sighed, shut his eyes and drew his shoulders up. He hobbled forward, desperately hoping he wouldn't lose a limb too, and just before he could throw himself at the slab he stopped.

What was that?

Thrasher pressed his ear to the surface and tried to listen.

"What are you doing, you buffoon?"

Thrasher didn't answer. There was that sound again. Louder this time.

Scapegrace fell silent. Then he said, "Are you _crying?_ "

"No, Master," Thrasher said, and had his blood not coagulated upon becoming a zombie he would certainly have blushed. As it was he merely cleared his throat awkwardly. "I think it's coming from outside. Hello?" Thrasher called. "Is someone there?"

"H-hello," came a watery response, distorted by metal and concrete. There was a slight pause. "Are you a talking door?"

"Sorry?" Thrasher said, blinking. "No?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Who's there?"

"Me."

"You?"

"Yes."

Thrasher opened his mouth and Scapegrace snapped, "Just open this bloody door!"

It was quiet for a bit and Thrasher worried they'd scared off whoever was outside but then the lock clicked and the door creaked open.

A head popped in.

It belonged to a girl with grey eyes and blond hair which was partially kept back by a bumblebee hairclip.

"Oh," she said, sounding surprised. "You really aren't a door."

"I'm really not," Thrasher said. He looked at her and his brows drew together. "Hey," he began, "are you alright?"

The girl's eyes were puffy and red, like she'd been crying. She thought for a moment, then she shook her head.

"Your name's Clarabelle, isn't it?"

Clarabelle nodded.

"What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No." She sniffled, and new tears welled up. "It's the professor."

"What about the professor?" Scapegrace demanded.

"He..." She trailed off, biting her bottom lip.

"You can tell us," Thrasher said kindly.

Clarabelle looked at him and whimpered. A tear slipped down, then another, and soon she was well and truly sobbing. Thrasher gulped and took a step closer even as Scapegrace moved back.

Very carefully, Thrasher held out his arms and Clarabelle wasted no time before throwing herself against him.

"Uhm, there, there," Thrasher tried, patting her back with a helpless sort of look on his face. "It's OK."

Clarabelle only cried harder.

"N-no," she hiccupped eventually. "It's not. T-the professor is dead."

Thrasher's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, Clarabelle," he breathed. "I'm so sorry."

"He was, he was always s-so, so nice to me. And now he's gone! I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You?" Scapegrace squawked. "What about us?"

"Uhm, Master." Thrasher gave him a pointed look.

"What, Thrasher?" Scapegrace held up his dismembered arm. "In case you forgot, we have our own problem."

"Maybe we can find someone else to help," he said.

Clarabelle sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Help with what?" she asked.

Scapegrace stared. "You must be joking?"

"You mean your arm?"

"Yes! No. Well, that too. All of it!"

"We want to not be zombies anymore," Thrasher explained.

"Oh," she said. "OK. I thought if it was just your arm I could fix it." That made Scapegrace pause. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"You can fix me arm," he repeated. "Really? You?"

"Uhuh."

Scapegrace looked at his arm. Then he looked at Clarabelle. Then back at his arm.

xXx

Tesseract regarded the drab, featureless walls of his interrogation cell with apathy.

He had failed. He knew it the moment that Remnant snuck and slithered past his mask and took control of his ailing body.

But knowing that did nothing to abate the slight sting of disappointment he felt.

It would pass. Most feelings did with death and there were few alternative futures he imagined himself experiencing.

The door of his cell opened.

A man walked in, pulled the chair opposite his away from the table and sat on it.

Once he was properly situated the man folded his hands together and gave him a pensive look with his golden eyes.

xXx

Despite the sun hanging high in the sky the streets of Dublin were utterly deserted.

"Like a ghost town," Clarabelle chirped.

She was happily perched on the passenger seat and had taken to pointing at things as Thrasher drove by them.

Scapegrace was lying in his freezer and doing his very best to ignore every senseless word that came out of her mouth. At least she had reattached his arm, though he wasn't sure how long the duct tape would last.

He heard Clarabelle laugh at something and she was soon joined by Thrasher. Scapegrace growled and slapped his hands over his ears.

Why oh why had they taken her along? Leave it to Thrasher to get his stupid self attached.

Personally Scapegrace didn't see the appeal. Sure, she had her uses but Clarabelle was strange, even by mage standards and she completely ignored him every time he told her to call Thrasher by his proper name.

No, she kept insisted on calling him _'Gerald'_. AND, she'd had the gall to give him disapproving looks. HIM. The Zombie King!

How dare she? And how dare Thrasher be friendly with someone so disrespectful to his master.

He was wondering whether he ought to go out there and give them both a piece of his mind when the ice cream truck hit a speed ramp and Scapegrace's face smashed into the side of the cooler.

"Mpff! Thrasher!"

xXx

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Valkyrie asked as Skulduggery navigated the Bentley through the narrow streets of Roarhaven.

It was dark out again. Valkyrie's stomach growled and she glowered. Her parents and the reflection were probably sitting down for supper.

She snagged a power bar from the dash compartment and was about to tear it open when Skulduggery looked at her.

Sighing, she stuck it in her pocket.

"Not really." Skulduggery parked the car. They got out and ascended the few steps leading to the Sanctuary doors. Valkyrie took the bar out again, undid the wrapper and took a bite. The taste of stale oats filled her mouth.

"Shouldn't we, you know, look for them?"

They'd swung by the Hibernian earlier, to collect Scapegrace and Thrasher. But when Valkyrie had gone in the two zombies had vanished.

"I'm sure they'll turn up at some point. They seem quite good at it."

She yawned in response. Skulduggery looked at her, head tilting.

"I'll drop you off in Haggard after this," he said, "We can sort things out with Tanith tomorrow."

"…Yeah. OK."

Tipstaff met them in the great hall.

"Detectives," he greeted, briefly looking up from his clipboard. "You're here for the assassin?"

"We are."

"Interrogation room 2. No one has gone in yet."

"Good man," Skulduggery said and started walking.

While she knew the Sanctuary was far from finished Valkyrie didn't think functional light bulbs were too much to ask. The lamps flickered overhead. When they came to the correct door Skulduggery unlocked it.

Valkyrie gagged as the most acrid, horrid smell hit her square in the face. She slapped a hand over her nose and mouth but it did little to stop the assault on her nostrils.

"Oh hell," she heard Skulduggery say.

* * *

So uh, again, sorry for the late update. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, feel free to leave a comment.


	3. Chapter 3

So, uh. That took a while...

Enjoy?

* * *

It took a moment to blink away the tears but when she did, and her sight returned, Valkyrie saw that Tesseract was slumped over the table, motionless.

"What is that smell?" she choked out as Skulduggery approached the body. He tilted his head, then undid the latches on either side of Tesseract's mask. It let out a soft hiss as it separated from his flesh.

"That," Valkyrie said, "is disgusting."

"Necrotizing fasciitis," Skulduggery said, looking at the lumps of black-purple skin. "More commonly known as flesh-eating disease."

Valkyrie nodded. "I'll stay over here, thanks."

"The bacteria spreads through saliva and mucus. So long as you don't plan on kissing the body you'll be fine."

"Gross!"

Skulduggery shrugged. "I have to admit, I'm surprised. I've never heard of anyone surviving an infection this widespread. I suspect that is what the needles are for. They must be injecting something to stave off the effects."

Valkyrie hesitated a moment, then slowly joined him. "So the disease killed him?"

"No. See here, the red spots." He pointed at Tesseract's eyes.

"Oh," she said. "No, I know that one. Don't tell me. It's, uh, asphyxiation."

"Correct."

"What did they use?" Valkyrie peered at the body. "A bag?"

"No." Skulduggery reached inside his suit pocket and withdrew a small pouch. He sprinkled a pinch of rainbow dust in the air. As it dispersed the cloud took on a faint, blue sheen before fading to a dull grey.

"Elemental magic?"

Skulduggery nodded. "The killer kept air from entering his body. It doesn't require a particularly high level of skill, and as you can see it is quite effective."

"You're saying anyone could have done this?"

"Not exactly. There are quicker ways to kill someone. Breaking their neck, for example. Sometimes the method not used tells you just as much as the one that is. Whoever did this either didn't possess the physical strength to accomplish the task or simply lacked the training."

"Maybe they just preferred using magic?"

"Another possibility. Now then, what else does the dust tell us, besides that elemental magic was used?"

"It wasn't super bright," Valkyrie offered.

"Which means?"

"That it happened a while ago?"

"Exactly. Going by the colour saturation Tesseract was killed between 1.5 and 2 hours ago. So, we're looking for an elemental with access, who was here between half past five and six o'clock. There wasn't any damage to the door, so whoever it was used a key. Since there aren't many people with access to this room, we'll start with them."

xXx

Erskine strode down the hall with Tipstaff following a few steps behind. The pair arrived just in time to see Tesseract's body, covered by a sheet, getting loaded onto a stretcher. Skulduggery stepped into the hall.

The eyeless gaze of the detective fell on him and Erskine fought the sudden urge to swallow.

"What happened to the cleavers I requested?" Skulduggery asked.

"Ah," said Erskine. "About that…"

"Yes?"

"We couldn't spare them."

The frown in Skulduggery's voice was plain as day. "I wasn't asking for an army, Erskine. Two would have sufficed."

"And it would have been two too many." Erskine shook his head. "We still have over 300 terrified people stuck in those mountains in the dead of winter. We're barely managing to keep them contained until Fletcher can take them home."

"Tesseract knew things. We needed that information."

"I know." Erskine pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear, I thought it'd be fine. How did he die, anyway?"

"Asphyxiation." Skulduggery's voice had settled back in its usual tone. "The room tested positive for elemental magic which narrows down the list of suspects considerably."

Erskine frowned. "Half the mages in the world are elementals, Skulduggery, including you and me. And Valkyrie." He looked around. "Speaking of Valkyrie, where is she?"

"Security office. She shouldn't be long."

As if summoned, Valkyrie reappeared, walking toward them from a different corridor and said, "The camera was disabled at 17:43. Same goes for the ones in the hallway but we expected as much already."

Erskine looked between the two. "So, you have no leads?"

"We might. The office was empty when I arrived," she told them. "We think whoever killed Tesseract got rid of the guard and took his keys."

"Tipstaff," said Erskine, "who was supposed to be on duty tonight?"

"One moment, Elder Ravel." The administrator went quiet, his eyes unfocusing and thus missing the mildly disturbed expression which crossed the other man's face at the form of address. Skulduggery chuckled.

The administrator's gaze cleared. "Derach Cove," he said before frowning.

"What is it?" Erskine asked.

"My apologies, sir. According to my records, mister Cove left."

"What time?" Skulduggery asked sharply.

"The cleavers stationed at the entrance tell me he exited the building shortly before six pm."

Skulduggery and Valkyrie shared a look. She sighed. "Guess I'm not going home."

"We'll need everything you have on him," Skulduggery said.

"Of course, sir," Tipstaff responded.

"That settles it then," Erskine said. "Skulduggery, Valkyrie. I'll leave this matter to you. I'd stay and help but I have about seven more meetings scheduled in the next 2 hours. Honestly, why we don't just have one big conference call instead of a never-ending parade of small ones, I don't know."

"Isn't it obvious, Erskine?" Skulduggery's head was tilted in amusement. "To make you miserable."

After they left, and Tipstaff had excused himself, Erskine walked back to his office. A Roarhaven mage passed by him.

"Tell him it's done," Erskine said. "The rest depends on the others."

xXx

"Hello." The monotony of the reflection's voice had always bothered her but at that moment Valkyrie found it oddly soothing.

"Hey," she said. "How is everyone?"

"They're fine. Your parents are downstairs listening to the news report and your sister is asleep." It paused. "When do you think you'll be back?"

"We're supposed to meet up with the council and let them know what we found out but after that Skulduggery is dropping me off."

"Ok," it said, and hung up. Valkyrie returned Skulduggery's phone. They stood there, leaning against a wall for several more minutes before one of the heavy wooden doors opened.

"The council will see you now," said Argent. He let them in and shut the door again.

The last 28 hours had not been kind to Corrival Deuce. The Grand Mage closed his eyes and lifted his hands to rub his temples. Ravel appeared to be faring no better, nursing his coffee whilst staring into the distance with a vacant expression. Madame Mist was the only one of the three whose fatigue didn't show. Then again, she was still wearing her veil.

Skulduggery gave them a moment to respond. When they didn't he cocked his head, and said, "Glad to see you are enjoying yourselves."

"Careful, lad," Corrival muttered. "It's been too long a day for you to start your wisecracking."

"Has it?" he asked. To which Valkyrie responded by elbowing him in the ribs. "Ah, so it has."

"Detective." Madame Mist's soft voice rung through the room. "Surely I am not wrong in presuming you did not come to us empty-handed?"

"Not at all. After discovering the body and conferring with Erskine-"

"Elder Ravel," she corrected.

"Of course. After conferring with His Excellency, Elder Ravel, my partner and I went by Derach Cove's residence. There we found evidence of someone having left in a hurry."

"They didn't even bother to close the door," Valkyrie added.

"As it turns out," Skulduggery continued, "Cove had a brother who died in the Sanctuary Explosion orchestrated by Marr."

Ravel finally set his mug down. "So this was about revenge?"

"People don't generally go around hiring high level assassins," Corrival reasoned. "How did they get in contact?"

"We don't know," Skulduggery admitted. "Tesseract's form of communication is still a mystery."

"Does it matter?" They all turned to Madame Mist. "The assassin is dead and Cove is in the wind. Ireland will remain quarantined for some time. Cove will be found and arrested. In the meantime we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"I'll talk to Grand Mage Dragunov," Corrival said. "The Russian Sanctuary might have more information regarding Tesseract and his activities."

"We also have someone looking into Cove's financials," Ravel added. "If there's a trail there, we'll find it. In the meantime, you two should get some rest. At the rate we're going there'll be a new catastrophe before sunrise."

It was when they were walking back to the main hall that Skulduggery suddenly stopped. "Why was Tesseract even here?"

"Sorry?"

"He ought to have been halfway across Europe by the time the Remnants got out, so why was he here?" He looked at Valkyrie. "We're missing something."

"Valkyrie!"

Fletcher came up to them and leaned in for a kiss but stopped short. He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey," he said, somewhat lamely.

"What are you doing here?" Valkyrie asked, unsure what that had been about.

"Just finished playing taxi. What about you? I figured you'd be in Haggard by now."

"We're going there now," Skulduggery said.

"I can take you," Fletcher offered, looking at Valkyrie.

"Oh." She looked at Skulduggery. "Actually..."

"Go on," Skulduggery said. "I'll see what I can find out on my own. And don't forget about our talk with Tanith tomorrow."

"I won't," she said. "See you tomorrow."

Skulduggery nodded. He bade them goodnight and continued to the door.

"So what's eating you?" she asked Fletcher.

He gave a halfhearted shrug and took her hand. "Do you mind if we stop by somewhere?"


	4. Chapter 4

By the time she woke, it could hardly be called noon anymore.

Yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Valkyrie forced herself up and into a sitting position. The reflection must not have turned up the heater last night because her room was cold as anything. Goosebumps already forming on her arms, she quickly dragged the comforter up.

Noise came from downstairs, letting her know her parents were up. Eager to see them after everything that had happened, Valkyrie swung her legs off the bed and onto the chilly floor. Grumbling, she looked down and tried to spot her slippers.

There came a tap on her window.

With the curtains still drawn, all Valkyrie could see was a vague outline. Scowling, she pulled them back, ready to berate Skulduggery. It wasn't him.

"Caelan?"

He looked silly, perched on the ledge like that. Snowflakes clung to his black hair, adding to his comical appearance, and Valkyrie would have laughed if it wasn't for his eyes. His expression, as he took her in, could only be described as ravenous and despite the shock Valkyrie felt a small thrill. She squashed it and went to unlatch the window.

"Steph?"

She spun around.

Her father knocked, then called her name again. "Steph," he said, "Are you up? Breakfast is ready." The door creaked open, and Valkyrie's palm shot out, slamming it shut. She heard her father yelp on the other side.

"Don't come in," she said quickly.

"Why not?" he asked, sounding perplexed. There was a pause. "Oh. Right, sorry."

"I'll be down in a minute." As she spoke, she kept her eyes on Caelan. Every few seconds she saw his eyes dart away, taking in her room with far too much interest.

"Alright," Dad said, "but hurry or I'm eating your toast."

She waited for him to descend the stairs, then opened the window. Immediately, cold air drifted in and without thinking, Valkyrie took a step back. Caelan smiled and before she could stop him he had climbed over the sill and into her bedroom.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she whispered sharply.

"I needed to make sure you were safe.". If her annoyance bothered him, it didn't show. He took another step. "If anything happened to you…"

"I'm fine," she said. She didn't like the way he was looking at her now, eyes dipping from her face to where the sheets met the skin of her neck. She also didn't like that a part of her did like what he was doing. Wishing she had her work clothes on, Valkyrie drew the comforter tighter around her shoulders, then cleared her throat. He looked up again.

"Look," she said. "I'll be at the pier in half an hour. We can talk there."

She expected him to argue, part of her hoping he would, but Caelan just nodded.

He left and she shut the window, threw on a dressing gown and went downstairs. In spite of her father's threat, her breakfast was untouched and Valkyrie quickly took her seat, pushing thoughts on Caelan out of her mind. She ate and talked to her parents about innate things.

The radio was on, and they listened as a reedy-voiced woman instructed people to stay indoors. She didn't miss the worried look on her father's face. Or the way her mother's hand went to her belly. Once they were done eating, Valkyrie offered to clear the table, to which her parents readily agreed, then returned upstairs.

The reflection said nothing as it left the mirror. They dressed in silence. Once it had finished, the reflection spoke.

"I don't want him coming to the house."

"Neither do I." Valkyrie zipped up her black coat. Her boots came next, and she began lacing them up.

"How does he even know where you live?"

"I'll be sure to ask him."

"You do that," it said.

Her back turned, Valkyrie rolled her eyes and climbed out the window. Fresh snow crunched underfoot.

Crossing her fingers her parents wouldn't look in the garden before the snow fell again, she ran to the pier.

When she arrived, her face had turned red from the cold. Her ears stung and Valkyrie kicked herself for not grabbing a hat.

Caelan was looking out at the sea. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she went to stand beside him.

"How do you know where I live?" she asked, jumping right in to the conversation.

"You may recall I drank your blood."

He smiled. Valkyrie recalled a lot more than that. Her cheeks burned but she tried to play it off as another effect of the weather.

"So you tracked me down. Is that why you were at the Hibernian that day, looking for me?"

"I needed to see you."

"Caelan," she said, voice turning wary. "I'm glad you were there to help out, but I already told you. You and me, that isn't happening. I need you to hear that."

Caelan said nothing. The waves crashed against the rocks, seagulls screamed in the sky above. When he spoke, his voice was hard and cold, almost a snarl.

"You're still seeing him then," he said. "That _boy_."

Narrowing her eyes, she answered, "His name is Fletcher, and yes, I am."

"After what he did to you?"

"That wasn't his fault. He was being possessed."

"And is that supposed to make it alright?"

Valkyrie laughed. "You do get how ridiculous you sound, don't you?"

Caelan grabbed her arm and Valkyrie's amusement faded. "If I hadn't been there, he would have killed you. You wouldn't think it so funny then."

"Let go of my arm, Caelan. This instant."

She saw his jaw clench. After a tense second, he released her. His eyes closed, and he let out a long breath. Had he been alive, she would have been able to see it like she could see her own. Any other day, she'd have found it interesting, but right now all it did was highlight the differences between them.

He was being more unreasonable than she'd ever seen, and Valkyrie wondered whether there wasn't something else going on. A suspicion forming in her mind, she said, "What happed after you and Fletcher teleported?"

He looked away and she knew she'd struck a nerve.

"Caelan?" she tried, and when he still didn't look at her she touched his arm. "Hey."

"I suppose," Caelan said with no small amount of snark in his voice, "I ought to be grateful he didn't take us to the ocean." she waited and his shoulders sagged. "He took us to a few places, some outside of Ireland, I think. I lost hold in Galway."

He met her eyes. "I tried to get back to Dublin as fast as I could but with all of Ireland on lockdown there weren't any rides to catch. And then the sun went down…" Caelan's voice grew tight and he stopped talking.

Valkyrie wondered distantly whether her face was as pale as his now. "I'm sorry."

Caelan shrugged, eyes moving to the horizon.

"I don't," she stated. "Ok, I don't want to get your hopes up, but I might be able to do something about that." When Caelan didn't interrupt, she said, "I know Kenspeckle kept a bunch of vials of the same serum Dusk used in his lab. They're probably still there."

He took her words in and she saw the exact moment they registered.

"And you think he'll simply give them to me?" he asked, doubtfully.

"Kenspeckle's dead." The remark came out flat, but Valkyrie was already glad her voice didn't crack.

"I see." Caelan was quiet for a long time. "Thank you," he said at last, then he smiled at her and Valkyrie felt her heart flutter.

"Just helping out a friend," she said, not believing her own words. She could see in his eyes Caelan didn't either. Her phone beeped. Skulduggery, asking her if he could pick her up.

"I have to go," she said, glad to have an excuse. Caelan gave a reluctant nod but made no move to leave.

She knew what she should do. What everyone would tell her to do. Instead she said, "New Year's Day. St Anne's Park. I'll text you the time. And Caelan?"

The conceited smile on his face made her glower.

"Don't show up at my house again."

 **xXx**

They were all sat in Skulduggery's living room.

Steam billowed up from a pair of mismatched mugs. Tanith's was checkered black and white whereas Valkyrie had opted for her usual one. Years later and the hideous dog was no less ugly.

"So to summarize," Tanith said. "When Serpine tried to steal the Book of Names you looked inside, saw your true name, then forgot it. Years pass and nothing happens but then the sensitives start having visions and a creepy little doll whispers your name to you in the middle of the night." Tanith waited for Valkyrie to nod, then said, "You know, if I had one of those things and it started saying stuff I would take it outside and burn it."

"I did."

"Oh. Good job."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Anyway, you're freaking out. Totally get that. It takes you a while to get your head on straight but then you realize you need protection. You go to your amazing uncle and-"

"Tanith."

Tanith paused. "Yes?"

"Gordon isn't here," Valkyrie said. "You don't have to compliment him."

"I know that. I'm just stating facts. So after a bit of searching, you end up going to Nye, and let me just say that was hands down your worst idea ever. The things I heard about that thing… Anyway, it sealed your name after which you nearly ended up as a permanent part of its body collection. Then, because why not keep the bad stuff coming, the Remnants break out and get completely obsessed with you. They try to possess you, it goes spectacularly wrong, and you sort of became a psychopath for a few minutes before Skulduggery and I get you to stop."

"Basically."

Tanith nodded. "I'm trying to come up with a good, not-swear-word because 'major bummer' is just not doing it for me. I'll get back to you on that."

"Sounds good."

"And what about you?" she asked Skulduggery. "How long have you known about all this?"

"Valkyrie told me on St Stephen's Day."

Tanith's eyebrows shot up and she let out a long whistle. "She managed to keep it from you for three months?" She picked up her mug. "Not going to lie. That's impressive."

Valkyrie grinned.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Just Gordon," she said.

"Sanguine likely knows as well." Skulduggery tipped his head. "I'm not entirely certain how conscious he was during our talk with Remnant-Tesseract but he must have put two and two together by now."

"You think he'll talk?"

Skulduggery shrugged. "He hasn't yet. I think it's safe to assume he won't unless there is something to be gained."

"How do we know he hasn't told already?"

"For one, no one's shown up to kill Valkyrie yet." Skulduggery ignored the looks both she and Val gave him. "Nor has an arrest been made so it's safe to assume he's keeping it to himself. That being said, we shouldn't wait for him to make his move."

"I say we kill him." Tanith sipped her tea. "Let's be honest here, no one's going to miss him."

"I'm sure he'd be sorry to hear that, coming from you," Skulduggery said, sounding amused.

Tanith glared at him over the rim of her mug.

"That's why I want him dead."

"Not because he's a threat to Valkyrie, or a murderer for hire, or because he's been getting in our way for the past three years?"

"That too, but mostly the other thing."

"Moving on," Valkyrie said, "How are things with you and Ghastly?"

Tanith's cheeks turned pink and Valkyrie grin grew and grew until it stretched from ear to ear.

"We're doing fine," Tanith said succinctly.

"Have you had your date yet?" she asked eagerly.

Skulduggery looked at her, then at Tanith. Then he got up and left the room without a word.

"Not yet," Tanith said. "The shops were shut so getting the ingredients just wasn't possible. I was going to tell him we could just eat whatever was in the house, but he looked so determined I didn't have the heart."

"Cute," Valkyrie noted smugly.

Tanith shook her head but she too was smiling. "We've rescheduled for tomorrow."

Impossibly, Valkyrie's smile became even wider. Letting out an embarrassingly high squeal, she shot off the couch and grabbed Tanith by the shoulders.

"We need to plan!"

"Plan what? " Tanith laughed. "It's just dinner."

"Well what are you wearing?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" Tanith asked, looking down at her trousers and waistcoat.

Valkyrie shook her head. "Nope. Not happening. We're going to your house and we are going to pick the cutest outfit ever, something to knock Ghastly right off his feet, and then when you get married you'll remember how I did all of that and you'll make me the maid of honor."

Tanith laughed loudly. "Don't you have work?"

"you're right," Valkyrie said solemnly. She went to the base of the stairs. "Skulduggery, I'm going out! Be back in a few hours!"

"Fine," he called down. "Go have fun. I'll just be here, working."

"Thanks, see you later!"

Valkyrie grinned at Tanith. "I'm ready when you are."

Chuckling, she set her mug down. "Alright, alright. Let me get my coat."


End file.
